Aussiefolk

Hello Fodors Family. Time to pick your brains again. Thanks in advance 🙏🙏🙏
We are planning a self guided land based tour following an inside passage cruise that terminates in Seward early AM ThursdayJune 13.

We plan to travel by train for the most part. Outlined below is the itinerary we’re thinking of. Alaska Railroad offers two classes of travel - Goldstar or Adventure. We’re happy to pay the Goldstar but there doesn’t seem to be a significant difference to the service provided. Would value your input here please 🙏

June 13. Train from Seward 6pm to Anchorage 10.15pm. Overnight in Anchorage
June 14. Briefly explore Anchorage (have been there previously) Overnight in Anchorage.
June 15. Train from Anchorage 8.20am to Talkeetna 11.05am. Overnight in Talkeetna.
June 16. Scenic flight over Denali with K2 Aviation. Overnight in Talkeetna. (We’ve been in to Denali previously by road)
June 17. Train from Talkeetna 11.20am to Fairbanks 8.00pm. Overnight Fairbanks.
June 18. Briefly explore Fairbanks (have been there previously). Overnight in Fairbanks.

This is where we need most advice please to see if it’s ‘doable’.
June 19. Bus trip to Coldfoot to undertake the safari that takes us up the Dalton Highway over the Brooks Range and through the Atigun Pass. We imagine that to do all that we’d need to stay in Coldfoot at least two nights.
June 21 or 22 we’d fly from Coldfoot to Fairbanks.
June 23 (?) Fly from Fairbanks to LA.

How does all that sound?

Gardyloo

I guess I'm a little confused on the Dalton Hwy bit. The Dalton Hwy bus departs Fairbanks northbound on Tuesdays and Saturdays and departs Deadhorse (southbound) on Wednesdays and Sundays. The 19th of June 2024 is a Wednesday, so you'd have to leave Fairbanks the day before. The bus - Dalton Highway Express - stops in Coldfoot then continues the same day north through Atigun Pass all the way to Deadhorse. It turns around the next day and retraces its path back to Fairbanks.

So if the "safari" is based in Coldfoot (I wasn't sure if this is a DIY or some arranged expedition) you'd start on Wednesday morning, having arrived the night before in Coldfoot, and you'd have to wait until Sunday afternoon to get back to Fairbanks on the bus, or else take what might be a very pricey flight from Coldfoot back to FAI. Now maybe you've sorted this all out already, but like I say, it left me a bit puzzled. One thing I will say is that touring the arctic in late June, I hope you have industrial strength bug dope at the ready. You could ride the bus through the pass up to Deadhorse, from which there are daily Alaska Airlines nonstop flights to Anchorage, where you could connect back to the world.

But do clarify your thinking on this part of the adventure.

Madam397

We did an Alaska trip in 2021 around a family wedding. Perhaps because it was 2021 and people were just starting to travel, we had a free upgrade to the dome car on the Alaska Railroad which we took from Talkeetna to Denail and then Denali back to Anchorage. We used Alaska Tour and Travel to book the train reservations and found them to be. very helpful and reliable. I booked the hotels myself. I found that when I called Customer Service for Alaska Railway, they were not especially helpful and they were somewhat rude. The dome car was a great experience as you have a narrator who points out wildlife as well as what you are seeing such as harbingers of winter, history of the railroad as well as the communities along the way. You could sit back and relax and enjoy a drink or coffee at your seat and on the Denali to Anchorage leg, we had dinner on the train in the dining car. We did the Park Connection Bus from Anchorage to Talkeetna and that was great. Easy pick up at Anchorage Museum, driver was very informative and they go right to the Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge which I would highly recommend. The train set-up very efficient in moving you to your hotels, in our case, the Denali Bluffs. When we left that hotel, we did not handle our luggage and next saw it on the train platform in Anchorage.

Aussiefolk

Your information is hugely helpful. We had not thought of going right up to Deadhorse - a great option. Huge thanks for your input.

Our initial plans were as a result of discussions with an Aussie mining engineer who undertook the adventure, we outlined in our post, last year. We’re not sure if he was on a conducted tour or took the regular bus to Coldfoot. He flew back to Fairbanks from Coldfoot.

Thanks again.

Aussiefolk

Your response was most helpful. I had been warned about not booking directly with Alaskan Railroads but had quite forgotten so will take your advice.

I’ve been checking out other travel websites since posting yesterday and the consensus seems to be leaning towards Goldstar class travel in Alaska.

Thanks again.

Gardyloo

I'm going to be honest and say that one shouldn't set one's hopes too high on the Alaska railroad experience. The Orient Express it ain't, and while the Seward or Whittier line to Anchorage is very scenic, the same can't really be said about the Anchorage to Fairbanks line, with a few rather widely-spaced exceptions. Lots of forest out the windows.

Judging from some of your past posts it sounds like you're quite adventurous, and that's a good thing, and certainly Alaska provides ample opportunity for adventures. I really don't want to sound insensitive or give offense of any kind, but can I just ask what your main reason(s) might be for the arctic part of the trip? Of course, they can be quite straightforward: many people have "bucket lists" of national parks, and indeed, the Gates of the Arctic NP is one of the more difficult national parks to reach. Others simply want to be able to say they've crossed the arctic circle. Or others have an intense interest in history, or in seeing stark landscapes... or it can be several or all of these things.

I was thinking about this part of your trip in the context of, "If she didn't do this, what could she do instead?" This sort of time/money tradeoff dilemma faces many visitors to Alaska. It's so big, and so much of it so hard to access, that tough choices have to be made. Now certainly the bus trip to Coldfoot, or indeed, potentially all the way to Prudhoe Bay, is feasible. The scenery is terrific - in parts - but there's also a lot of pretty boring boreal forest to pass through too. Weather in late June can be an issue - it can be dusty on the road, or a little rain (or a lot) can turn the haul road (which many of us still call it, force of habit) to mud. You might want to watch this video to get a sense of what things might be like -


Still, it can be a terrific adventure and will certainly expose you to a face of Alaska not experienced by many.

But what else could you do with those days? Well, one thought I had (and this will come as no shock to anyone who knows my posting history) would be to swap a flight to Kotzebue from Anchorage for the Dalton experience. Kotzebue is an Inupiat Eskimo village located on an arm of the Arctic Ocean, 25 miles / 40km or so north of the arctic circle. You can fly return from Anchorage on Alaska Airlines for around US$300 (cheaper than the one-way flight from Deadhorse to Anchorage) and there's a comfortable Native-owned hotel and restaurant across the street from the beach. It's a fascinating place where you can learn a lot about the unique culture and lifestyle of the traditional inhabitants of the northwest arctic, as well as experiencing the midnight sun and being able to stick a toe in the Arctic Ocean.

But what really caught my attention is that if you have the time and the financial resources, late June is when the massive Western Arctic caribou migration in the region takes place. There are flightseeing operators in Kotzebue that can take you to witness this spectacle - a quarter million or more animals marching across the tundra. The same companies offer flightseeing trips to places like the Kobuk Sands in the Kobuk Valley National Park, or other destinations hard (verging on impossible) to access by land. Here's one that's based in Kotzebue (also in Delta Junction near Fairbanks.) Kotzebue Alaska Wildlife Viewing and Parks - Golden Eagle Outfitters (alaskawildernessexpeditions.com)


Like I say, not trying to upset any apple carts, and I have no idea if this is of any interest, but I thought I'd raise the subject of alternatives just in case you were open to the idea. You're going to have a terrific time regardless.

Aussiefolk

You’ve certainly given us lots to think about. I travelled the ‘haul road’ to Prudoe Bay and return about 5 years ago but my travel partner hasn’t. Exploring Alaska’s north is on his bucket list and his mining engineer friend travelled the Brooks Range and Atigan Pass last year and encouraged us to pursue this adventure.

I really appreciate your input. We now need to research your suggestions. Trying to juggle timing of transport schedules is proving a challenge.

Thanks again.

mlgb

I booked direct with Alaska railroad and didn't have any issues. What were you warned about? I went regular class and it was fine. IIRC you can walk through the other cars. The website should explain the differences. Maybe the seats and narration ?

Might be worth overnighting in Seward instead of Anchorage?

Have you been to Nome?

Aussiefolk

I guess our concern re booking direct with Alaskan Railroads was as a result that two different groups from Australia experienced.

I did find the Alaskan Railroad’s website informative though.

Aussiefolk

I phoned Northern Alaskan Tours yesterday and they were most helpful. It seems that exact trip that we’ve been trying to find is definitely available (we just couldn’t locate it on their website). Music to our ears. In June they travel to Coldfoot daily, leaving Fairbanks at 9.30am. After overnighting in Coldfoot they offer a safari that travels north very early the next morning, passing through the Brooks Range and Atigan Pass then driving back to Coldfoot that afternoon. We will then fly back to Fairbanks (that same afternoon).

Our plans are beginning to gel.

mlgb suggested we overnight in Seward after our cruise but we’ll have spent the previous night in Seward and we’re anxious to head north as soon as we can.

I just love how the whole Fodors family are so helpful and suggest solutions that we hadn’t given a thought to.

Sincere thanks one and all.

Gardyloo

Sounds great. Enjoy, and maybe give us a trip report?

christym907

We took that trip with Northern Alaskan tours a few years ago and it was fascinating. I had always wanted to go through the Brooks Range instead of just flying over it (which is pretty spectacular as well!). . I can exactly remember what month we went, but we saw lots and lots of Caribou and many of them had young babies. And seeing just part of the north slope was really interesting. and of course seeing the pipeline most of the way up gives you an incredible sense of what a feat of engineering that is.